The Vault Dweller on "Returning Lost Money"

The Vault Dweller

The Vault Dweller

always looking for water.
Back at my old job I was out in the parking lot in front of Wal-Mart (I worked there) when I found $80 in the form of four folded twenty's literally blowing by in the wind. I thought about turning it in, but didnt since I wanted to keep the money and figured the money could have been blown in from anywhere.

Later a friend semi-berated me for not turning it in saying "It could have been from someone who could barely afford to pay for car insurance.".

So I decide next time I will turn the money in...

At my new job a few months ago I was at work at a cash register when I had no one in line. I decided to go walking around to find something to do when I was in front of my register and found a $100 folded four times on the floor and barely noticable. I pick it up and think that maybe a cashier dropped it from their register. The place I was standing was between my register and someone else's. I knew it wasnt mine since I hadnt gotten any $100 bills yet so I asked Tammy the cashier near me if it was hers. She checked and she had all her money so it wasnt hers. I told her I was going to go turn it in and I gave it to one of the management telling them what happened.

So I figured that if the person who lost it came back they would get it or that if no one claimed it in a month it would be given back to me as is policy at most places.

I learned the next day that someone tried to claim the money. Turns out it was the husband of the cashier next to me whom I asked about the money...and as far as I know was the only one who knew other than the management. At work some of the management asked me a few questions about when, how, and where I found the money I guess to make sure that the husband was a legitimate candidate for finding the money and not lying to just get free money.

Well I later learned they couldnt disprove it wasnt his so they gave it to him. However, I cant help, but wonder if Tammy didnt just make a note of the time it happened and told her husband to claim he was there and dropped the money so he could claim it. Its completely possible he went to the store and even stopped to talk to her while which he could have dropped it.

What do you think the chances are that he was telling the truth and the money was his? Should I have just kept the money knowing someone would have done that or would my conscience have charged me more than what the money was worth? What would you have done?

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
mmm there must have been a reason that God had you leave your register and find the 100 dollasr... clearly he wanted YOU to have it. You just went and screwed up the whole Master Plan by turning the money in.

Hrmmm, I don't know how to comment on your actual situation since it's really hard to point the finger in either direction. I mean, MAYBE he really did drop it. Maybe he didn't? No way to tell unless you see who really did drop it. But the way I see it, if he wanted to put that much work into it to get the money, then fine. But if you ever find out he was lying, kick his ass. And next time, keep the damned money :).

As for what to do with lost money... eh, it sucks for the person who lost it but most likely, they have no idea where they lost it and wouldn't find it even if you did turn it in. So consider yourself lucky, pocket it, and eventually you'll lose money and they'll find it and it'll all balance out. I mean, sure it sucks to lose money but they probably wouldn't find it again anyway.
 
Meh....maybe you should have dropped it into a charity as an anonymous donor. Your conscience would have been soothed, and you would have been doing something decent and noble. Luck had given you the opportunity to help others out, it is up to you to take that opportunity *shrugs*.


Anyways, that is my thought.
 
Are you kidding me VD? Of course it wasn't his! The only logical course or action when finding random cash is to pay off your credit debt, as anyone who wants to claim the money is a thief and a liar. Better to pay off your debt with said money than to perpatuate the circle of dishonesty that grips our once great nation. :?
 
Heh, we actually went over this in my Criminal Law class the other day.

In Australia, if you find money or property with no apparent owner, you're required to make an honest and reasonable attempt to return it to the original owner. I can only speak from an Australian perspective, sorry.

You're best bet, to keep yourself both morally and legally clear, is to hand it in to the nearest police station. In three months time, if there's no legitimate claims to it, the moneys yours. I believe someone in Victoria once found a huge amount of money with no way to identify the owner (it was a shitload of money, over the tens of thousands I think). They turned it in, it was advertised, no-one claimed it, so it was theirs.

The law becomes confused when it comes to cash, however. It's difficult to find the original owner, since shouting out "Has anyone lost some money?" will most likely find you several dozen previous owners, and turn into a big guessing game on who can guess the correct amount.

So my suggestion is: next time, don't tell anyone, turn it into the cops, get all the paperwork done, and claim it later on. Noone ever goes to the cops to find lost money anyway, so it's more or less yours if you do that, and your conscience is free and clear.
 
This topic reminds me of those TV shows where the story stops in the most important moment so the viewers could call and decide "What should our hero do?"
Type 1 if u want him to return the money
Type 2 if u want him to swiftly slide the dough into his pocket...
 
Yeah, The_Vault_Dweller, he chumped you. The money was actually mine. I folded it into little folds and put it on the floor by the cash register for safe-keeping because I know how much money likes to be in the company of other money. You STOLE IT from its safe haven before I could pick it up again.

You owe me $100 now.

The only logical path your brain should take when you find money looks like this: Money ->> Pocket ->> Spend.
 
excatly, as Simple Minded so firmly expressed it, it all evens out, one day you'll loose some money and you'll never get it back, but someone else will find it...
unless it's a shitload of money(like thousands) then the right thing would be to give it to the cops...
 
Volkov- american rules on lost money is similar. You are supposed to hand it in to the police and they will hold it for a time. If it is not reclaimed, than you can claim it.

As if someone wouldn't reclaim it.

I think it highly suspect that the husband of the cashier next to you happened to be there, on that particular day and lost that amount of money. Chances are very improbable.

That said, remember you are also working. Lets say the person had come back and said, "I lost $100 right here! Do you have it."

You thinking of the $100 in your pocket means a night with your favorite babe leading to wild monkey sex says, "Nope, didn't see it."

The patron asks management. Management checks the vid cameras, sees you pocketing a cool $100, confronts you with it. You return the money. Patron gets irate, your boss fires you.

Ok, crappy job, but now you lost the $100 and the job because you got greedy.

The money that blew in the wind- take it. The amount is too small to be claimed. Unless you saw the woman who lost it running after her fluttering dollars, child in carriage in tow, dodging passing cars because without the money her kid will starve, then pocket. It's too small an amount to be worth handing it in to the police station.

Lost money at work, hand it in. Because it's not just the money but your job.

If you are a Christian you can rejoice in the knowledge that the husband and probably the cashier next to you are going to burn for eternity in hell for a measely $100. For sure, don't trust them again.
 
Yah VD it's a good thing you turned that in. At my shit hole of a job I know when someone is not looking. So I can find and or take cash. In your case I definitely would have turned it in. I'd feel it too much a hassle to drive to the police station knowing it wont be claimed. That or pocketed by the locals out here. Although turning in lost goods is how my father got his first computer in the late 80's. 1,400$ system in the can he turned it in a little bit later the station asked him if he wanted to keep it.
 
Urk, nice way to blow a free $100 to a liar, TVD.

Most cash I've ever found was roughly $70 (a 500 SEK banknote) on a street in the middle of the night. When I saw it lying there in the gutter I litterally leaped over it, stuffed it in my pocket and walked away from the scene as fast as I could without running.

Had it been a wallet it would have been different - I would not have taken any cash out of a wallet, but tracked it's rightful owner with the dudes ID card and hope for a finders reward instead.

The funny part tho' is that I later, after having spent the money on Warhammer, found out who it belonged to. It was a dude in my ex fiances class who walked home on the same road that I had found the bill. My ex overheard him telling his friends in school how he had lost a 500 SEK banknote and felt all sorry and shit. It's a good thing I didn't like the guy, at all, so I didn't feel guilty about it.
 
Well I've come to the definite conclusion that the money wasnt the husband's and I indeed allowed a liar to benefit. That said I thought I would keep the money next time especially since I'm sure I'll lose money that someone else will pick up eventually...

welsh said:
The patron asks management. Management checks the vid cameras, sees you pocketing a cool $100, confronts you with it. You return the money. Patron gets irate, your boss fires you.

Ok, crappy job, but now you lost the $100 and the job because you got greedy.
Click to expand...

Well maybe not when I'm at work. It never crossed my mind that I could get fired if that happened.

Welsh said:
If you are a Christian you can rejoice in the knowledge that the husband and probably the cashier next to you are going to burn for eternity in hell for a measely $100.
Click to expand...

Thats the best news in this thread especially since I know I have to turn it in, but that someone will lie to get it.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
I think Luke has got the right idea here; anything identifiable needs to have at least some reasonable effort made to return it to the owner. Loose cash, however, is another matter, since there's no convenient way to identify the owner. I've found cash before, but never more than a single banknote can be worth (although I most commonly seem to encounter wads of the smallest denominations like $1, $2, or $5, usually in some combination. I know what this is exactly, it's the result of a transaction that breaks a large note and the note either never came from your billfold (because someone gave it to you "Here go buy this" style); or you stuck the resulting cash someplace because it was messy and you couldn't be bothered to straighten out the bills so they could fit in your billfold or you had put your billfold away while waiting for your change. Small sums like this I find no problem putting in my billfold (or under the heat outlet in the car if they're all soggy from the snow :) ) I've never found a truly large sum of cash, but I think that turning it in would probably be best if it's remotely identifiable (Even in an paper envelope or something). A friend of mine once found US$ 800 in a satchel in a log. He turned it in and was later allowed to keep it, since nobody claimed it (Not surprising since it's rather unusual to keep a satchel of money in a random log in the forest).
 
Heh, this story reminds me of my first job. I worked in a bar, picking up used glasses and filling up fridges and mopping up various bodily fluids. Not fun, considering the place was a disgusting shithole.

Anyway, our "tips" were whatever we found on the ground that night, mostly coins and the occasional $5 or $10 note. Except one night when my mate found more than he actually got paid on the ground (he found around $190 and got paid $150).

Later I told me Criminal Procedure teacher (who was also a lawyer) about this, while we were discussing theft by finding. He just stared at me for a couple of seconds, mouth open, then gave me his business card, saying that "I'll probably need it sooner or later".

Okay, it's not the greatest story in the world, but it always makes me chuckle when I remember that :D
 
Lord 342 said:
A friend of mine once found US$ 800 in a satchel in a log. He turned it in and was later allowed to keep it, since nobody claimed it (Not surprising since it's rather unusual to keep a satchel of money in a random log in the forest).
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like someone shady was hiding that money there...thats really suspicious. Lucky for your friend though.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
Luke said:
Had it been a wallet it would have been different - I would not have taken any cash out of a wallet, but tracked it's rightful owner with the dudes ID card and hope for a finders reward instead.
Click to expand...

Hehe. I found a wallet about a year ago. In the cinema, actually. There was roughly 70 Euros inside and all the other stuff you usually find in a wallet, like an ID, some crappy pictures, a banking card and so on.
The ID told me the wallet belonged to a 34-year-old woman.
I thought about what I should do with the wallet for about thirty seconds, but I could only come up with two things: I could return the wallet to the women and ask her to suck my dick and lick my balls for being such a good and thrustworthy citizen, or I could keep the money and get rid of the wallet somehow.
After watching the movie - a French flick which sucked and bored me to death, I think it was called "Le couperet" but I'm not sure - I finally decided to keep the money, get drunk and go to a whore to not only get my dick sucked but to get a full body treatment.
So I went to the pub I usually frequent, drank 4 Westmalle Tripels, went completely berserk and eventually left to scout the neighbourhood that has most the whorehouses in Ghent ('t Zuid). After about ten minutes I picked the cutest Asian whore I ever saw.
She wasn't as good at sucking my dick as I had hoped, but fucking her was really nice. Not awesome, but memorable. I remember I even sucked her toes whilst pounding her tight purse. Heh. I've got this thing with women's feet. I think it has to do with my Catholic upbringing.
Anyway, all in all, I spent 62 Euros on booze and sex that night.
The remaining 8 Euros went into cigarettes and chewing gum.
I dropped the wallet with the ID, the banking card and all the other crap into a trash can next to a bus stop, but I did keep one of the lousy pictures, though.
It shows the same woman that was in the photograph on the ID holding hands with another woman, maybe her friend, her sister or her lover.
I've taped it to the wall of my writing room.
Sometimes, when I'm really drunk and really horny, I take it off the wall and look at it whilst jerking off.

-- alec, thinking about the good old days...
 
alec said:
I think it has to do with my Catholic upbringing.
Click to expand...

Judging by the rest of that story, I very much doubt your catholic upbringing has had much of an effect on you.

At least, not any effect they intended. :roll:
 
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